Katie is 13 years old and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, a lymphatic cancer. This site is a request to pray for her. Call her prayer pager 1-361-333-KATY (5289), enter your ZipCode and # key, to let her know you have prayed for her. Updates of her progress will be posted on the site. The Power of Prayer is Awesome.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

WHY IS KATIE NOT RECEIVING RADIATION?

If you recall the court battle of Katie Wernecke, Dr. Alter testified that Katie needed to receive radiation treatments and would die in 10 days without it. By the way I just found out Dr. Alter is board certified in Texas as a Pediatric doctor only. Dr. Alter is NOT board certified in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. This does not qualify him as a medical expert in cancer no more than any other baby doctor.

Actually they said 5 doctors recommended radiation treatments including one from M.D. Anderson. Three of these doctors were Radiologist, so what do you think they would recommend. None of these doctors were Hodgkin's disease experts.

So why isn't Katie receiving radiation? Had she received radiation she would have been home in 21 days. Katie is currently receiving chemo treatments. Katie has been gone two and a half months now and will be gone at least 5 more months. Too long for a cancer patient to be separated from her family.

If the first doctors were right and she needed the radiation treatments why is she now receiving chemo? Could they have been wrong? Were the new doctors at M.D. Anderson wrong? Could it be there is no right answer? Maybe the decision should have been left with the parents after all.Her doctor at M.D. Anderson, Dr. Cesar Nunez, holds only a Faculty Temporary License to practice in Pediatrics at the Training Institution of UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is not licensed to practice anywhere else in Texas and is certified in no specialty. He attended a medical school in Univ De Caldas, Manizales, South America, which appears to be a virtual internet university. Would you trust your daughter's life to someone who is in training? Well, we have NO CHOICE, and NO SAY in this matter. If something goes wrong and Katie is injured or dies, who will take the blame - the Doctor, CPS, the Judge? Are all immune under the court order? We were never guilty of medical neglect!!! Just guilty of asking for a second and third opinion.

Where are the experts in Pediatric Oncology and in Hodgkin's disease that we were promised? We are not included in the discussions of her treatment plans. They have failed to share her medical records and medical samples so that we could have them examined by our choice of doctors.

Here are some statement to think about:

The doctor said Katie needed to receive the treatments in 10 days or she would die.

Katie was given no treatments for over 40 days and she was very healthy and at no risk of dying. So where was their emergency that justified tearing this family apart?The peace officer that picked Katie up in Duval county said " she doesn't look like she is dying to me." Dr. Voorhees of the Radiation Oncology Center in Corpus Christi examined Katie on 6/13/05 and found a "Well-developed, well-nourished female who appears in no acute distress at the time of the examination. She appears alert and oriented times three." He noted her hair was growing back, her heart strong, and lungs were clear. He palpated and found no lumps or masses in the neck or lymph nodes. That would have indicated that the cancer was growing or spreading.

Why if this cancer is back, was it stated in the report to the court by the doctors that there was no change in the CAT scan done by M.D. Anderson on June 20th and the one done in Corpus Christi on April 22, 2005. You see they make detailed measurements on the size and mass and growth of the tumor in the CAT scans. If this is active cancer then it must be growing and increasing in size. Yet, they find no changes in 60 days (90 days since the last chemo treatment). Where is the at risk factor of dying that justified taking her away from her parents and keeping her in CPS custody and care?

We ask the doctors at M.D. Anderson to be honest and open with us in the care and treatment of our daughter Katie. Provide us with the full medical records and biopsy samples so we can have them examined by doctors of our choice. What do you have to hide? Give us a plan and schedule of upcoming treatments. Schedule conferences when Michele is already in Houston for a week during chemo treatments not a day or two after she leaves, and we are never told about them through CPS, but learn later about them from Katie.